8.09.2008

Bernie Mac is a lot like George Lopez to me–I had some real problems with a lot of his material, but I respected him as a true comedian. He was an observer of people, and those observations, more often than not, were funny as hell because they pointed out human and cultural truisms and flaws that were embarassing, endearing, interesting and enraging.

He material was sexist and homophobic, but he was also one of the few that discussed po’ black communities (as in poverty stricken and devistated, not just the idealized ‘poor’ that Cosby and other comedians of color talk about or idealized gangsta ‘poor’ that younger comedians like Cedric the Entertainer riff on) , drug addiction and how it affects the children, the addicted person and older family members.

I mean, the clip below has got some homophobia and abelism that really rides the line between being a joke and being fucking mean.

Double Consciousness is a term that comes from the pen of W. E. B. Du Bois which was made popular in his book The Souls of Black Folk. For Du Bois it meant “always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” and of having two identities, one being American and the other being a person of color. “Two warring ideals in one dark body.” The title is also a pun on the fact that the two blog founders/editors are of different ethnicities which obviously effects the way they perceive the world. Jack Stephens is white (three-quarters Irish and one-quarter Guatemalan) and C is Pilipino. Despite this fact they are both unified in their thought on critiquing white privilege in American society and in combating its effects on people of color.